The morning was breakfast and a shower I'd been wanting for some time. The shower broke while I was in there and the nozzle came off and shot high pressure water on me. It still felt nice to wash myself.
I like this sign. We took our leave of Bryce, heading out through the small towns on the main road. We followed directions to the trailhead for a short hike to a slot canyon.
We weren't sure if we were at the right place first, but we soon found a landmark that confirmed we were there. The trail follows a dry stream bed to a long sandy wash into the canyon.
We arrived at the canyon, where the tall walls rise up along a narrow opening that we walked through Red Hollow.
We climbed through and over several obstacles into the slot canyon. It was beautiful in there though it didn't go very far in.
We spent a lot of time climbing things back and forth and trying to climb other things with less success. It was a lot of fun in there. We finally decided to leave and head to the next one.
We spent a good amount of time trying to navigate the confusing directions to where this hike was supposed to start; basically in someone's driveway. We started in the wrong place once and eventually realized it and got to the right place. Immediately we had to cross a narrow, shallow part of the Virgin River to get on the trail.
The trail wove through someone's property (he was fine with us taking the trail) and past several rundown barns and old vehicles. It headed up a mild grade to a plateau that soon dropped very steeply into the valley and an expansive wash of soft sand that last for at least a mile. In that sand, a mile seems like five. We walked slowly through the soft stuff, wondering if this was really worth it.
As we came upon the entrance to Red Cave and walked in to see this, our question was quickly answered. The sight was unreal and the temperature difference was astounding. It was refreshingly cool inside and we were in awe of the natural formation.
The canyon wound a long stretch, with frequent obstacles we needed to get over. Several made us question if we should try to keep going, but we didn't want to miss any of this amazing place. And we really like climbing over things. We started using the stemming technique to shuffle up the walls and over rocks.
The views kept changing, continuing to be breathtaking around each turn. The canyon must have gone on for a mile at least. We came to some open areas and continued on until we got to what seemed like the end. At that point we headed back.
Climbing down was more difficult, of course. It gave us extra challenges to figure out. We discovered that we were pretty good at stemming up and down so that was nice to know. Once I was more confident in my abilities, I was able to navigate the obstacles much easier.
The walk back in the soft sand was not as bad as the walk there. Maybe it was the excitement from the slot canyon. Whatever it was, our pace was accelerated by the looming storm clouds that threatened us with thunder as they blew in over our heads. We got back to the car just as it started to rain. Good timing. We stopped at a gas station, where I grabbed some hard boiled eggs for lunch and then ate my honeydew at the pump.
The storm cleared quickly and we headed south to Arizona. We got to Page to look for more canyons and stopped at a Wal*Mart for some supplies and an oil change. We found that we needed permits from the tribe because Page is on a reservation. After a Subway sandwich and some research, we headed to our camp for the evening.
On our way, there was an overlook where we stopped to take photos at sunset. The view was pretty nice and the wind was whipping ridiculously. After I got some shots I retreated to the car.
We went down to the Lone Rock area at Wahweap National Recreation Area to set up the tent. Not many tent campers there, but there were tons of RVs along the water. It was like a NASCAR race. The wind hadn't died down at all and there were tons of sharp, annoying little tumbleweeds in the dirt that made walking difficult, let alone setting up a tent. We had to stake it down and hope for the best.
It was still early so we sat in the car and had some food listening to Stuff You Should Know. I wanted to drink my beer that I got at Bryce so I played the SYSK drinking game just to test it out. It works well. And the beers I got were really good. Organic IPA wins.
It was hard getting to sleep at first with the wind, but it died down eventually. Then there were people riding four wheelers around, so there was no winning.
The morning was breakfast and a shower I'd been wanting for some time. The shower broke while I was in there and the nozzle came off and shot high pressure water on me. It still felt nice to wash myself.
I like this sign. We took our leave of Bryce, heading out through the small towns on the main road. We followed directions to the trailhead for a short hike to a slot canyon.
We weren't sure if we were at the right place first, but we soon found a landmark that confirmed we were there. The trail follows a dry stream bed to a long sandy wash into the canyon.
We arrived at the canyon, where the tall walls rise up along a narrow opening that we walked through Red Hollow.
We climbed through and over several obstacles into the slot canyon. It was beautiful in there though it didn't go very far in.
We spent a lot of time climbing things back and forth and trying to climb other things with less success. It was a lot of fun in there. We finally decided to leave and head to the next one.
We spent a good amount of time trying to navigate the confusing directions to where this hike was supposed to start; basically in someone's driveway. We started in the wrong place once and eventually realized it and got to the right place. Immediately we had to cross a narrow, shallow part of the Virgin River to get on the trail.
The trail wove through someone's property (he was fine with us taking the trail) and past several rundown barns and old vehicles. It headed up a mild grade to a plateau that soon dropped very steeply into the valley and an expansive wash of soft sand that last for at least a mile. In that sand, a mile seems like five. We walked slowly through the soft stuff, wondering if this was really worth it.
As we came upon the entrance to Red Cave and walked in to see this, our question was quickly answered. The sight was unreal and the temperature difference was astounding. It was refreshingly cool inside and we were in awe of the natural formation.
The canyon wound a long stretch, with frequent obstacles we needed to get over. Several made us question if we should try to keep going, but we didn't want to miss any of this amazing place. And we really like climbing over things. We started using the stemming technique to shuffle up the walls and over rocks.
The views kept changing, continuing to be breathtaking around each turn. The canyon must have gone on for a mile at least. We came to some open areas and continued on until we got to what seemed like the end. At that point we headed back.
Climbing down was more difficult, of course. It gave us extra challenges to figure out. We discovered that we were pretty good at stemming up and down so that was nice to know. Once I was more confident in my abilities, I was able to navigate the obstacles much easier.
The walk back in the soft sand was not as bad as the walk there. Maybe it was the excitement from the slot canyon. Whatever it was, our pace was accelerated by the looming storm clouds that threatened us with thunder as they blew in over our heads. We got back to the car just as it started to rain. Good timing. We stopped at a gas station, where I grabbed some hard boiled eggs for lunch and then ate my honeydew at the pump.
The storm cleared quickly and we headed south to Arizona. We got to Page to look for more canyons and stopped at a Wal*Mart for some supplies and an oil change. We found that we needed permits from the tribe because Page is on a reservation. After a Subway sandwich and some research, we headed to our camp for the evening.
On our way, there was an overlook where we stopped to take photos at sunset. The view was pretty nice and the wind was whipping ridiculously. After I got some shots I retreated to the car.
We went down to the Lone Rock area at Wahweap National Recreation Area to set up the tent. Not many tent campers there, but there were tons of RVs along the water. It was like a NASCAR race. The wind hadn't died down at all and there were tons of sharp, annoying little tumbleweeds in the dirt that made walking difficult, let alone setting up a tent. We had to stake it down and hope for the best.
It was still early so we sat in the car and had some food listening to Stuff You Should Know. I wanted to drink my beer that I got at Bryce so I played the SYSK drinking game just to test it out. It works well. And the beers I got were really good. Organic IPA wins.
It was hard getting to sleep at first with the wind, but it died down eventually. Then there were people riding four wheelers around, so there was no winning.
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